Bio, Discography…

“Flight Behavior’s music awakens something primal and ancient, instilling you with a sense of long-forgotten majesty….”

Official Bio

FLIGHT BEHAVIOR

Ariana Saraha (vocals, percussion) and Fernando Medina (drums, percussion) have teamed up to form Flight Behavior, a new duo whose music “evokes the night sky, the flowering earth, and the blood river in our veins…” Occasionally inviting guest musicians up on stage, these two follow in the footsteps of bands such as The Creatures and Dead Can Dance in their capacity to create whole sonic worlds with primarily the voice and rhythm.

ARIANA SARAHA

Ariana Saraha is a singer, musician, and composer from the wilds of the West with an Old World soul. Most often compared to Celtic singer Loreena McKennitt and alt-world artists Dead Can Dance, Saraha is a true and versatile original. As one critic said, “I listen to Loreena McKennitt, Enya, Clannad, etc. and often after about three or four songs I’m feeling like it all sounds the same. Not the case with [Saraha].” Perhaps it helps that she has performed music as diverse as Greek & Sephardic love songs, Lebanese pop, Egyptian classical music, Turkish art rock, Bulgarian folk harmonies, Persian & Armenian laments, Indian ragas, and Peruvian icaros. But what really invites the listener in, beyond her vocal finesse and exotic influences, is Saraha’s rare mixture of raw wildness and heartfelt intimacy.

“Ariana not only has one of the most achingly beautiful voices you have ever heard, but her songs go to depths and heights not often visited by songwriters today. Mystical, sensual, inspiring, and real; she is not afraid of the darkness, but, just as important, she is not afraid of the light.” — Thomas Hast, Music Critic, Boulder, CO

FERNANDO MEDINA

Coming from Panamanian roots, Fernando Medina brings a sultry Latin influence along with a strong rock background and even orchestral and jazz sensibilities. Medina has toured with bands with such warm, fuzzy names as Christian Death and After The Crash, shared the stage with immensely contrasting acts such as Jah Wobble, The Creatures and Eddie Money, played the SXSW Festival, Panama Jazz Fest, and others between and beyond. Medina is not just a drummer, but a co-creator and “rhythm painter” who weaves melodies and landscapes out of percussion. www.fernandodrums.com

“Fernando has the technical skills of a professional classical musician, the creativity of a free jazz player and the emotional capacity of a singer-songwriter. It’s a powerful combination.” — Robert Filippo, Strezo band, Atlanta, GA

Together, Saraha & Medina’s music becomes cinematic and transportive while still drawing us down to the ground; sometimes psychedelic, sometimes angelic, but always born of the textures of this world….

“Ariana’s voice is a soaring, beautiful thing. Wrapped around expertly-played instruments of the Middle East, Persia, and India, her song very much takes flight. You follow it like a bird into the blue or a diver into the depths. Where Dead Can Dance brought us into the Labyrinth, Ariana Saraha offers to meet us in the Silence.” — Dan Fairchild, Concert Producer, Boulder, CO

“Ariana not only has one of the most achingly beautiful voices you have ever heard, but she writes incredible songs as well. Her songs go to depths and heights not often visited by songwriters today. Mystical, sensual, inspiring, and real; she is not afraid of the darkness, but, just as important, she is not afraid of the light.” — Thomas Hast, Music Critic, Boulder, CO

“I am utterly unprepared for her wild, mystical soul and music that transports me to faraway realms and ages. Frankly, I am blown away. I feel as if I have stumbled unknowingly upon a gypsy caravan and stepped into the circle of dancing firelight and music.” — L.R. Heartsong, Author

“Ariana’s voice cascades like a mountain stream, sparkles like sun on the water and soars like a bird on the wind…” – P.T., Boulder, CO

“Ariana really, really helped me to come into my own vocalization. Her Womensong gatherings were an intimate setting for very creative openings. Back in the days when I could barely manage a squeak, she gave me self-confidence to go farther. I thank her everyday for her expertise and assistance.” ~ M.D., Boulder, CO (Womensong participant)

“Ariana’s performances are prayerful and passionate, provocative and playful. Her beautiful voice and rhythms weave sublime strands of the sacred into a kinesthetic personal experience for the listener. Yum! Long live the gypsy heart.” – D.F., Boulder, CO

SARAHA’S PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

In her first three years of songwriting, the floodgates opened and Saraha wrote over 100 songs. And then life took another unexpected turn: in 1999 she was offered the opportunity to sing lead vocals for the Colorado-based Mediterranean & Middle Eastern band Sherefé. For three years she learned and performed the traditional music of the Mediterranean, Balkan and Arab worlds, singing in Turkish, Arabic, Greek, Ladino, Bulgarian, Hebrew and Armenian languages. In 2004 she went in another direction and joined the electronica ensemble Tribal Electra for another three years, singing ancient mantras and prayers in Sanskrit, Hindi, Arabic, English and Hebrew over a bed of electronic beats and electric guitar. In 2007, enriched by these diverse musical experiences she finally launched her solo career by performing her original music at festivals and venues throughout the States (see full CV below). In August 2010, Saraha recorded a live album in Boulder, Colorado (which was released the subsequent spring). She released her first studio album in 2015, Maiden of Midnight, which was co-produced with acclaimed dream-pop songstress Tina Malia and Mideast-music guru Jesse Manno. She is currently working on her follow-up album, From the Wild, while gathering inspiration from traveling the primordial and sweeping corners of the earth.